AHT turns the heat up on the competition with new oven
A DUDLEY engineering firm is targeting growth after investing in new machinery.
Alloy Heat Treatment has invested in a new state-of-the-art Oven 25 machine, which specialises in heat treating outsized parts for specialist firms.
The investment is significant for the firm because the new plant means it now has the ability to carry out specialist work on-site, reducing the need for clients to off-shore work to Europe.
Alloy Heat Treatment, which specialises in heat treating components for the aerospace and automotive industry, is now the only UK-based firm to have the professional expertise and product to heat up pieces that fit into the basket size of 2630mm X 2400mm X 2300mm. It also has the ability to free up solution capacity on Alloy Heat Treatment’s rapid quench line.
Ian Perks, of Alloy Heat Treatment, said that at the time the firm was drawing up the specs for the new oven it had received an enquiry from a customer and had therefore decided to construct a machine capable of both high and low temperature treatments.
“AHT made a strategic decision to invest in a large top loading oven which would free up capacity on our fully automated, rapid quench, drop bottom line,” he said.
“We are in the process of getting the oven NADCAP approved which will allow us to take on larger components for the aircraft industry.”
Alan Hamer, managing director of Dorset-based WRES Ltd is one of AHT’s main customers.
He said: “Alloy Heat Treatment is the only firm within the UK which we discovered to have the Oven 25 machine for our specific use.”
He said the firm had specified a one-week turnaround for the work and this had saved his business from having to look somewhere in Europe in order to get the work carried out.
“If we didn’t have this option from Alloy Heat Treatment, we would have had to send it to Europe, which would be a longer turnaround time and not very practical for us. I think Alloy Heat Treatment’s new investment is a triumph for keeping manufacturing work within the UK, as opposed to exporting it out to Europe. In turn it has helped us satisfy our clients requirements,” he said.
